Tanacetum parthenium, and the workhorse of the summer meadow. Smaller and sturdier than chamomile, more structural than gypsophila, and more scented than either. The stems branch and carry dozens of small daisies apiece, creamy-white ray petals around a bright yellow button, and they hold on through drying rather than shattering.
What makes it so useful is the texture of the stem. It dries firm and papery and takes being bent into a wreath without snapping, which is more than most flowers of this scale manage. That puts it in the gap between the fragile and the rigid, and it is why it turns up in wreath work, mixed bouquets and a jug on a kitchen table in roughly equal measure. It is the neutral bridge that stops a mixed arrangement looking like a collection of separate things.
The stems keep their scent, which is clean and herbal with a citrusy, camphor-like edge, much like chrysanthemum foliage. Some people find it obvious and others barely notice it. Either way it is the plant's own and nothing has been added. Stems are around 60cm, cut at peak bloom and hung in the barn at Salle Moor Hall. Grown chemical-free, no dyes, no imported stems. Seasonal, while the summer stock lasts.
